Based on a previous version I made off of shinjirarenai's "Who killed Mr. White?" detective game!
Except this time it's formated for JHS 3nen's Unit 5.
I found a picture on the internet. → This is a picture I found on the internet.
~ How I played ~
I printed out the hints on a piece of paper, laminated it, cut them, and then put them in labeled envelopes.
I then put the envelopes on the blackboard with magnets. (You could also hide them around the room if you have the time.)
The worksheet is printed front and back (situation + map on one side, note writing section on the back side).
Explain the story to them using the powerpoint.
I had students pair up with a partner (my JTE made the pairs) and told them that they're detectives that have been assigned to the case.
They're both partners and need to help each other to solve who the murderer is.
The pairs should have one student go up to the board and try to memorize the sentence and go back and write it on their blank hint sheet with their partner. My JTE and I had them switch who was going up to read each time. It was also okay to go back multiple times to read the same hint if they couldn't remember it.
You could OK writing Japanese if you and your JTE are alright with it.
My students needed help with comprehension so we OK'd it this time around.
The murderer is a person who is alone and who has a weapon with them without any hints eliminating them from being the culprit.
Answer:
Who: Yamada
What: Shovel
Where: Music room
Also, my final clue that I vocally told the students when they were rushing to finish in the last 10 minutes was to reiterate that "The killer is someone who is alone with a weapon."
(It's written on the worksheet as well, but most students skip reading it so I make sure say it again as it's an important piece of information.)
I also recommend in the last 5-10 minutes for the students to write where the suspects and weapons are on their map to help them visualize the information as well.
Most of my students were able to get the answer within the given timeframe. The students who didn't got very close.
My students had a super fun time doing the activity and got really pumped up because I had the Detective Conan song playing in the background the whole time.
I hope you have fun as well!!
※ I've also added an editable word document so feel free to edit and use this for any grammar point you'd like.
This activity is absolutely fantastic. My third graders were running all over the classroom looking for the clues, everyone had a good time. I even witnessed as one of my students (who doesn't usually participate in my activities) deduce from a hint "Oh, so the music room...". It was very sweet.
I replaced the names in the activity with the sannensei teachers at my school to make it a little easier and relevant to my students. I also replaced the victim with myself, put a pic of my face on the body in the slideshow, and swapped the murderer with my JTE. Students got a kick out of it. I also threw in some "who" sentences like "Magome was a teacher Mr. ALT trusted..." "Mr. ALT was killed by a teacher he trusted...".
Maybe it's because I threw in some additional hints, but only one pair of my students actually finished in the 20 or so minutes my JTE allotted. So in the last five or so minutes, I read out the key clues (5, 6, 14, 15, 16, plus the two "who" hints I added)